Christopher read



mien faire @anni fitte.

CHRISTOPHER READ, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

Letters Patent No. 82,551, dated September 29, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN KEY-HOLE GUARDS.

.TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CCNCERN:

with an arrangement for closing the key-hole similar to that of the main'lock.

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER RnAD,'of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and important improvements in door-locks, and locks for other purposes, whereby they are made burglar-proof; and it consists in an arrangement of tumblers, slides, and cams, whereby the key-hole is closed by the operation of locking the door, thereby'rendering it impossible to insert any other key, or a burglars tool, for picking the lock, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Figure 1 is a side view of the lock, with the outside plate broken away, as indicated by the blue line, to show the position of the tumblers and operating-parts of the lock. v

Figure 2 is a view of the same side of the lock, with the plate and parts broken away, as indicated by the shaded line, in order to give a view di'erent from g. 1.

Figure 3 is a. partial view of the back or inside of the plate.

Figure 4 is a cross-section of the -lock through the line :v x of iig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In this example at' my invention, I show an outside-door lock, arranged with a night-bolt and night-key,

In the main lock, the slide which ordinarily closes the key-hole is operated, by a positive motion, by a tumbler connected with the main bolt.

The slide which is operated by the night-key is thrown from the main key-hole by the key, but it is thrown back over the key-hole by a spring. Y

` A represents themaiu holt of the lock.

B is the covering-plate, which is broken away in iigs. I and` 2, as before mentioned.

C is the slide, which is operated by the main key, and which is attached to the plate B.

As represented in fig.2, the key-hole of the lock is closed by the night-key slide, a portion of which is seen at d, ig..2.

Both of these slides are confined to the covering-plate B by the strips e, which are rebatedon their under sides, so that grooves'are made for them to move in back and forth.

When the door is locked from the outside, (as when on an outside door,) the key throws the tumbler which moves the slide C from the slide, so that the slide stands stationary, but, by the operation of turning the key, the other slide is liberated by the raising of another tumbler, seen in dotted lines atf, iig. 1.

g is a sliding block, which is attached to the sliding plate d, and the tumblerf engages with it, as seen in the drawing.

When the tumbler is raised by the key in the process of locking the door on the outside, the key strikes a loose hanging block, seen in dotted'lines in fig. 1, at h, through which the tumblerfis raised.

When so raised, the block is thrown towards the key-hole by the spring t', when the slide and plate d assume the position seen in tig. 2, so that the main key-hole is closed when the key iswithdrawn.

The main bolt is recessed on its sides, for the tumblers, and on its upper side, as seen in the drawing, there are two tumblers, one, J, (seen in dotted lines,) for holding the main bolt to its place when it is drawn back, and another, marked 7c, which engages with the slide-plate C.

i, Both ot' these tumblersare attached to the main bolt by the stud L, with which they move.

As before stated, the tumbler le is thrown, by one of the wards of the key, from the plate C, when the door is locked on the outside, but, when it is locked on the inside, the wards of the key do not engage with it; consequently, the slide, as it moves with the main bolt, is drawn over the key-hole, and held in that position, thus securely closing the key-hole against burglars or others. A

To uncover the keyhole, when the bolt is turned, from the outside, the night-key is necessary, the wards of which engage with the block g, and force it back, where it is held with the plate d, by the back tumblerf, until itis again liberated by the main key.

The advantages of -this arrangement are many and obvious.

For in-door rooms in hotels,isteamboats, and priate houses, the security alorded by this lock is equal to' that of the best inside bolt.

It needs no fixtures or adjustments which are liable to be forgotten, but the door is safe from skeleton keys and burglars nippers when the key is turned.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The tumbler-f, the sliding block g, and the sliding' plated, in combination with a door-lock, operating sub-l stantially as shown and described, for closing and unelosing the key-hole, when the door is locked on the outside.

The above specification of my invention signed 'ny-me, this 12th day of March, 1868.

- CHRISTOPHER READ. Witnesses K WM. F. McNAMARs, ALEX. F. ROBERTS. 

